Aal – The Only Path

Lithuania’s Aal is bringing good old-school progressive death metal to the table. With the debut album The Only Path, the band conjures up sounds of Cynic, Exist, and even some Death! It’s definitely a strong contender for best prog death of the year, so don’t sleep on it!

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Джена [Džena / Gena] – Чур меня [Čur menja] (Фузз и Дружжба [Fuzz i Družžba])

Чур меня (Čur menja) is Russian atmospheric post-metal trio Джена (Džena)—romanized as Gena—at their best. Though not an old band, Gena really have their vision and their sound perfectly attuned. On the album—whose title roughly translates to Keep Away from Me—we can bask in atmospheres as large as the world with floating melodies excellently delivered. Truly an amazing album!

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The Rest Is Silence – A Short Film (Earshift)

Born out of Australia, The Rest Is Silence sees the uncanny but astounding merger of post-rock and experimental jazz. On A Short Film, the quartet’s debut album, the eight compositions wander back and forth between the two genres, often sprinkling some of the former into the latter, and vice-versa. The result is quite astonishing and very delightful!

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Ehnahre – The Scrape of a Keel (Painted Throat)

Oh, how I love Ehnahre! Read here my throughts on The Marrow, if you don’t believe me! With The Scrape of a Keel, the experimental doom-drone outfit explored even further the uncharted tunnels and grottoes of acoustic improvised dark ambient. This album will make you feel uneasy, unsafe, lost. With rather few anchor points in riffs and themes, a good chunk of the album lifts you into a timeless, dimensionless æther, a purgatory of sorts. It’s a unique and bewildering experience.

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Asēitās – False Peace (Translation Loss)

Portland, Oregon-based Asēitās already is a CTEBCM-backed band, and since their obscure self-titled debut they have garnered quite a lot of attention to themselves, even signing to the respectable Translation Loss records! On top of that, they were able to sharpen their sound, which was already well-honed. This makes for a truly substantial—over seventy minutes of material—album that has no filler, only bone-breaking riffs and jaw-dropping compositions.

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World Sanguine Report – Skeleton Blush (Limited Noise)

British avant-prog sextet. You needn’t read much more, but I’ll indulge just a little bit. Skeleton Blush is the project’s sophomore release, over ten years after their debut, Third One Rises. The project’s sound is as energetic and novel as ever, and you’ll definitely be surprised more than a few times upon your first listen. Here, dark prog meets jazz fusion and, to some extent, cabaret music, all of which coalesces into an utterly magical blend. Be sure to not sleep on it!